Pet carriers, per se, are commercially available today in many shapes, sizes and forms. One of their important uses is to transport pets in a manner which is safe for the pet as well as to a pet handler. In general, pet carriers have a bottom wall, one or more rigid or flexible side walls and a top wall. An opening of some sort or a hinged door is usually provided in a side wall to allow the pet to enter into the interior of the pet carrier.
Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 294,985 to Blieden, U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,761 to Gregory, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,744 to Tominaga each disclose a pet carrier having a hinged door in the top surface thereof. However, all of these prior art pet carriers have associated shortcomings.
Pets often resist being placed into and removed from pet carriers, especially when unfamiliar with a pet handler such as a veterinarian. In the pet's efforts not to cooperate, the pet may grab onto or push away from the hinged door, a door frame, a latch or fastener, a hinge, a groove, or the like. Additionally, newborn pets pose additional problems, i.e. the pet handler may inadvertently strike the newborn against carrier structure surrounding the side door opening thereby causing injury to the young or newborn pet. Furthermore, pet carriers having a top hinged door that swings closed over the entire carrier provides a struggling pet with a wider opening in which to escape from, thereby making the pet more difficult for a handler to control. As such, a pet handler using these types of carriers with a struggling pet may result in injury to either or both the pet and the pet handler.